Elon Musk: Always A Douche

[The Minsky Moment]

Isn't it that technically (per the SC ruling) he can be prosecuted, except that pretty much all documents and quotes and any other form of evidence is considered secret and inadmissable?

"Core constitutional function" -->  absolute immunity.  Since command of the armed forces and the executive law enforcement agencies are such functions, that is concerning.

"Official acts" -->  immunity for all acts "within the outer perimeter of his official responsibility" unless " unless the Government can show that applying a criminal prohibition to that act would pose "no dangers of intrusion on the authority and functions of the Executive Branch"

The latter is effectively absolute immunity as well, because the standard is impossible for the prosecution to satisfy. The standard isn't "undue burden" or "disproportionate burden" or "unreasonable burden".  It's no burden. Zero. Not even de minimus. Since there is no way a criminal prosecution relating to some official act or function can have zero intrusion on Executive authority, this is effective absolute immunity.

Moreover, as you point out above, the Court also ruled that evidence of official acts can't be admitted into evidence. As Comey-Barrett pointed out, that basically makes a bribery prosecution impossible if the bribe was made in return for doing an official act.

[Syt]

Thanks for the clarification!

[DGuller]

Here is a parallel question to "how long Trump will reign":  how long will Musk remain in Trump's good graces?  Will two volatile men with huge egos really get along indefinitely?

[Tamas]

4 months from inauguration

[Admiral Yi]

As long as Musk thinks he's getting value for his money.

TSLA up from 250 to 350 since the election.

[Admiral Yi]

Joan, do you think Nixon should have been subject to criminal prosecution for Kent State?  Should Clinton have been subject to criminal prosecution for Waco?

I don't know the answer to this question myself.

[Zanza]

As long as Musk thinks he's getting value for his money.

TSLA up from 250 to 350 since the election.

Trump does not need Musk and will eventually get annoyed by him.

[HVC]

As long as Musk thinks he's getting value for his money.

TSLA up from 250 to 350 since the election.

Trump does not need Musk and will eventually get annoyed by him.

Yeah, I don't see him lasting long once Trump feels the limelight shifting.

[Admiral Yi]

Trump does not need Musk and will eventually get annoyed by him.

How?  What has Musk done in his life that would annoy Trump?  We all get annoyed by him because of his bizarro beliefs on free speech.  That won't annoy Trump.

You think they'll fall out because of X vs. Truth market share?

[Tamas]

Trump does not need Musk and will eventually get annoyed by him.

How?  What has Musk done in his life that would annoy Trump?  We all get annoyed by him because of his bizarro beliefs on free speech.  That won't annoy Trump.

You think they'll fall out because of X vs. Truth market share?

If Trump starts to feel Musk is steeling limelight from him, it's going to turn ugly.

[Admiral Yi]

If Trump starts to feel Musk is steeling limelight from him, it's going to turn ugly.

Do you mean grabbing *some* attention away from Trump, or grabbing *more* attention than Trump.  We don't have precedence for the second and know from experience he doesn't have a problem with the first.

[Valmy]

Trump does toss people aside who annoy him or cause him problems.

But I don't think he can do that with Musk.

I do think he will dump RFK Jr at some point.

[The Minsky Moment]

Joan, do you think Nixon should have been subject to criminal prosecution for Kent State?  Should Clinton have been subject to criminal prosecution for Waco?

I don't know the answer to this question myself.

Nixon had nothing to do with Kent State, the CSNY song shouldn't be taken literally.

FWIW there was a civil case vs the Governor of Ohio and others and the defendants won at trial.

Waco was a federal action but I'm not aware of any basis for a criminal prosecution, especially not against Clinton personally

[Admiral Yi]

OK Joan, I agree that the SC ruling is a terrible thing, but I differ from you in that I think the problem is the ruling does not distinguish between impeached and unimpeached presidents.  (Unless it does somewhere later in the text.)

An impeached president by our common understanding of the Raz Article, is totally fair game.  The ruling goes directly against the Constitution.

My rearguard is going to be that prosecuting an unimpeached president looks a lot more like double jeopardy.

[Valmy]

My rearguard is going to be that prosecuting an unimpeached president looks a lot more like double jeopardy.

What if we discover crimes after he has left office?